Modern Britain

Gallery: Churches of East Yorkshire

by Peter Kessler, 17 April 2011

St Columba's Church Drypool is on the northern
side of the Holderness Road and Laburnum Avenue junction, in the Summergang
district. A temporary church opened on the site in 1914. This became the
church hall when the main building was opened in 1929. In July 1943 the
church was destroyed by enemy bombing, and services were transferred back
to the hall. The present replacement church was completed in 1960, set a
little further back from the widened road.

Holderness Road United Reformed Church lies
on the southern side of Holderness Road, about thirty metres (yards)
east of Westcott Street. Congregationalists had a church on the road
between 1841-1843. A new church was registered in 1874, designed by W
H Kitching in the Gothic style, and built in red brick with yellow
brick and stone dressings. It was damaged by bombing in 1941 and in
1949 two houses were converted for the present chapel.

Holderness Road Brunswick Chapel (unconfirmed)
lies on the eastern side of Holderness Road, opposite Morrill Street. It
was registered by the Wesleyans in 1877 to replace Durham Street Chapel.
An assembly hall, added by W A Gelder in 1886, increased the accommodation to
800. The present building was opened on the site of the old chapel in 1962,
probably confirming the photo as Brunswick Chapel. The assembly hall was used
by the National Assistance Board in 1964.

Holderness Road Primitive Methodist Chapel
(unconfirmed) is on the eastern side of Holderness Road next to a
row of three Victorian shops on the corner of Williamson Street. Also
known as Bright Street Chapel, it was founded in 1864.
Apparently still in use after the Methodist union of 1932, the
building was damaged by bombing in 1941 and had been demolished by
1964. If this is that chapel, then perhaps something survived for
integration into the present building.

Salvation Army Franklin Street is on the southern
side of Franklin Street, behind the Holderness Road shop fronts. The citadel
was built in 1907 but closed in 2006 and was converted into flats. Several
other places of worship have existed in Hull: Queen Street (opened in 1837);
Cambridge Street Barracks; Westmoreland Street Citadel;
the red-brick Madeley Barracks (1888); Cogan Red Fort;
Naylor's Row Barracks; and the small Marlborough Terrace Battery.

St John's Church & Community Centre is at
the south-east corner of Rosmead Street and Estcourt Street. It was
first founded as St John the Evangelist Drypool in 1791.
This was closed in 1916 and moved to the present site, further away
from the centre of Hull. A wooden church was destroyed by fire in 1923,
replaced by a temporary church, now the parish hall, and the present
church was built in 1952. In 2007 it became a combined church-community
centre.

Southcoates Lane Methodist Chapel stood on
the eastern side of Southcoates Lane on its southwards leg, midway
between Kedrum Road and Bilsdale Grove. Hedon Road Primitive
Methodist Chapel had been opened in 1894 to replace smaller
premises but was destroyed in 1941. Temporary accommodation was then
used before a new chapel was built in 1957 on Southcoates Lane. It was
designed by B W Blanchard, but was demolished between 2007-2008.

Sacred Heart Catholic Church stands on the
south-east corner of Southcoates Lane and Cundall Close in the Summergang
district. Development of the docks resulted in a rapid expansion of housing
west of the city and a great increase in the Catholic population, so the
parish of the Sacred Heart was established. It was near the new church that
the site for St Catherine's Convent on Southcoate Lane was purchased
in 1930, the year after the church itself was registered.

St Aidan's Church Summergang is at the south-east
corner of Southcoates Avenue and Lorenzo Way. Services were first held at
77 College Grove in 1924 and a temporary church opened in 1925. The first
part of the permanent brick church with nave and chancel was dedicated in
1935 by architects W Milner and R B Craze. In 1954 it was given a new district
taken from the parishes of Drypool, Marfleet and St Michael, and the following
year it was consecrated.